The Way We Live Now, 7/11/04: Questions for William F. Buckley; Conservatively Speaking

By Deborah Solomon

Published: July 11, 2004

Q: When you founded National Review in 1955, being a high-IQ conservative was a lonely job in America. But now that you are finally leaving the magazine, neoconservatives are running the country.

What do you make of them?

I think those I know, which is most of them, are bright, informed and idealistic, but that they simply overrate the reach of U.S. power and influence.

Yes, their ambitions in Iraq seem to be leading to their self-destruction.

Neocons would suffer a great blow, conceivably mortal, if Bush were defeated

because of Iraq.

What do you think was our greatest mistake in the Iraq invasion?

Undertaking as a single venture the deposition of Saddam, which we were uniquely able to do, and the reconstruction of Iraq, which could have been done by a U.N. combine.

Is there anything the Republican Party can do to regain its authority and luster?

It must abide by principles, salient among which at this moment is to pass the constitutional amendment to protect marriage.

Why do you oppose gay marriage?

It is extraconstitutional, marriage being a union between opposite sexes usually intending procreation.

Do you have any gay friends?

I once said, commenting on the revised estimate of the number of gays in the U.S. from Kinsey's 10 percent to the corrected figure, ''If there are only 2.5 percent gays in America, I know them all.''

You have made so many offensive comments over the years. Do you regret any of them?

I regret all spontaneous exchanges, because they aren't as concise as you can make them deliberately. Charles de Gaulle used to memorize replies to anticipated questions from the press.

It's not fair to blame the press. Some of your most inflammatory comments have been made in your essays and columns. In the 50's, you famously claimed that whites were culturally superior to African-Americans.

The point I made about white cultural supremacy was sociological. It reflected, in a different but complementary context, the postulates of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

What are you talking about?

The call for the ''advancement'' of colored people presupposes they are behind.

Which they were, in 1958, by any standards of measurement.

Do you regret saying that patients with AIDS should be tattooed on their backsides to identify them to potential bedmates?

If the protocol had been accepted, many who caught the infection unguardedly would be alive. Probably over a million.

You seem indifferent to suffering. Have you ever suffered yourself?

I do not advertise adversity and would certainly not talk about visits with psychiatrists or proctologists.

How is your health?

Infirm. Though nothing either terminal or unique.

Your autobiography, ''Miles Gone By,''

comes out this week, and I wonder how you would compare it to Bill Clinton's memoir.

They are incomparable.

Will you read his?

No. There isn't much point, as far as I can tell from the reviews I've read and promotions I've seen, to protracting the search for the real Clinton.

Have you ever cheated on your taxes?

I suppose so. It's impossible not to cheat on your taxes.

How much should one pay in taxes?

As much, but not more, than your neighbors pay.

Are there any pop musicians you admire?

Yes, a lot. I just don't want to listen to them.

Is your son, Christopher, who is a writer and has just been named as one of the trustees of National Review, as conservative as you are?